I wasn't sure if we'd be able to make it to the Noveltown Review Mixer but at the last minute we found out we could. YES!

I was really excited to and mingle with such talented people and even more excited because my friend Karen Elizabeth was going to be there. It had been a while since we'd hung out. Her and the co-author of Morning Coffee (who flew out from the East Coast to support Noveltown) were going to meet up with me and Mr. Twinkie.

Of course I get there, and things seem a little strange. Right away I knew this wasn't going to be a typical literary mixer. I knew it was going to be so much more than that.

The first people I see and recognize is Aaron Novack(The Silence Club) and his girlfriend Jen AKA Squirrely. At first they seem friendly enough. We made small talk then Mr. Twinkie and I found somewhere to sit. Mr. Twinkie went up to the bar to get me a glass of wine and we were pleasantly surprised to find out it was an open bar. I of course quickly changed my order to five shots of Patron tequila. YES five.

I don't know if it was the tequila but... doesn't this look eerie to you? Like they are conspiring to take over the world or something? VERY SUSPICIOUS!

A few minutes later Sal the Socialist showed up with Marisela, local artist. That's when I realized this was much bigger than I anticipated. This was more than just a literary magazine premiere and these people meant business. A socialist in our midst. This couldn't be a coincidence. It had to be a conspiracy, right?

Here's Sal, Marisela, and co-authors of Morning Coffee, Elizabeth(and)Alan(and I'm pretty sure they are consipiring against me in one way or another.. just look at those smiles! Don't they SCREAM OUT "I've got a secreeeeettttttt~ I'll neveeerrrrrrr tell!" And that little boy's angelic smile doesn't fool me. See him? He's giving out some of sort of secret sign/message:

When I saw Kindra I felt a little bit at ease. And she had Punkin with her, and her superstar daughter (who is featured as a model in the Noveltown Review's first issue)

Here's me and my savior, Kindra! She has a monster in her basement named Igby who protects her. She in turn, protects me! :

Kindra (who should be a writer/author) standing next to Elizabeth(and)Alan, authors of Morning Coffee:

Ricky and Jason from Hectic Films came up to us to talk about their Zombie movie and asked if we'd like to be extras in it. Mr. Twinkie said YES!

I whispered, "Oh sure.. fool him.. but you can't fool me. I KNOW you're up to something."

They tried to explain to me that what I saw earlier was all in my tequila clouded imagination but I told them ... well actually I can't remember what I told them because Jason handed me a glass of red wine. I started drinking it then I don't remember what happened after that.

I'm scared! Save me, honey, from these DANGEROUS DUDES:

Here they are again, posing with Elizabeth(and)Alan:

Here's Jen trying to act normal... but I know it's all an act. Something is going on and she's on it. It's a conspiracy. I just know it. If only I could figure it out! Maybe another drink would help. BARTENDER.....

I asked Jen if I could take a picture of her. She said yes a little too quickly so I knew something must be going on. But WHAT? Little did I know she was saving my life!

 Maybe another free drink might help me think.

See what was actually happening by going to: Paperback Writer, Noveltown's official blog. (scroll down until you see the picture of me, taking a picture of Jen, while she's taking a picture of Ricky's attempted Twinkie-attack.)

Five tequila shots, two glasses of wine, three glasses of beer later I decided I'd had enough. I was gonna get to the bottom of it. "N.L. Belardes," I said, "you'd better tell me what this mixer is really about and you'd better tell me NOW!"

He caught me as I was stumbling down in my drunken clumsiness, then said, "This, my dear Twinkie, is only the beginning of the invasion. Noveltown is here to take over the literary world. We want to find writers. We want to promote them. We want to take over the world. One book at a time. And nobody can stop us. NOBODY. Noboooooodyyyyyyyyyyy. Muahahahahahahaha" Then he slipped off his human, N.L. Belardes mask and his true alien face appeared. It was very scary.

Ok, OK, that actually might have been a nightmare I had that night after too much alcohol. Actually, what he really said was, "Thanks for the support Twinkie." Then he turned to my husband and said, "Nice to meet you Mr. Twinkie!"

And that, my friends, was that.

Well, actually not really. Then I got meet the ever-so-talented Gary from the Dalloways.

I also met for the first time Christopher Taylor of Christopher Taylor Photography:

Here is Christopher Taylor with Elizabeth:

I also met this girl named Lisa who swore I was her new bestest friend ever! Or maybe she said can I have some pizza? She said we should hang out and she'd call me and yaddah yaddah yaddah and could she have a drink of my beer.

I said, yes she could then I told her she'd probably forget all about me in the morning. And she did. Has anybody seen my new BFF? If so tell her it was nice hanging out with her that short while at the Noveltown Mixer and I'm sorry her limo buddies made her leave. She was fun!

She was with THIS GUY... who turns out we used to party together in high school... oops I mean after high school when we were of legal drinking age. Then he did a myspace pose. Me and my new best friend teased him about it.

In all honesty, it really WAS much more than just a party/mixer. It was a room full of people with dreams and the talent to get there. And a man who does everything in his power to help! N.L. Belardes does a lot to support and promote the literary, music, and arts scene and I just want to say thanks for all you do, N.L! I wish you much success in this project and whatever other project you take on!

If you want to preview and/or pick up your own copy of the newly released Noveltown Review,  all you have to do is go HERE for details!